Photographs, by definition, capture and immortalize a small slice of life. There is little for the viewer to infer what happens before or after that moment. However, there are images that need to communicate motion. For example, you may want to capture a dog running, a train barreling down the tracks, or trees that are blowing in the wind. Each of these scenes can come alive within your photographs if you learn how to convey motion properly.

Today, I’ll describe how you can use different shutter speeds and panning to capture motion in your photography. I’ll also explain a potential issue you might experience along with tips to resolve it.

Reasons To Capture Motion

Beginning photographers have likely seen captivating photographs that capture motion which they’d like to duplicate. There are several ways to accomplish this and each has a slightly different goal. Sometimes, there is a need to blur certain elements in the image while focusing sharply on a few subjects in the foreground. Other times, you may want to freeze or blur everything. The direction you take depends upon your objective for your photograph.

A lot of photographers capture motion simply to convey that an object is moving. But, there are other reasons to so. Movement can communicate mood. Trees rustling in the wind suggest serenity while throngs of people on a busy city block imply harried activity.

You can also use motion to eliminate elements in a scene that may serve as distractions to the viewer. For example, you may want to photograph a person standing on a sidewalk corner as cars move behind him. By blurring everything but your primary subject (i.e. the man on the corner), you can eliminate potential distractions and focus the viewer’s attention.

Two Primary Techniques For Capturing Motion

The shutter speed that you use while photographing a scene plays a key role in capturing motion in your image. The faster the shutter speed, the sharper the focus on your subject. On the other hand, a slower shutter speed will blur a moving object. There are two main approaches (we’ll discuss a couple of alternatives in a moment).

1. Blurred Subject With Background In Focus

Let’s assume you’re photographing a speeding train against a wall of trees in the background. You can blur the train while leaving the trees in focus. Doing so would instantly communicate to the viewer that the train is moving quickly. To accomplish this, you would use a slow shutter speed. (It’s also important to use a tripod. That way, your camera remains steady.) You’ll often see this technique used in nighttime photographs with car headlights cutting through the image.

2. Blurred Background With Subject In Focus

This second technique keeps your photograph’s subject in sharp focus while the background is blurred. Using our train example, the train would be in focus and the wall of trees would be blurred, thereby conveying the train’s movement. Similar to the first method, you need to use a slow shutter speed. However, instead of using a tripod, you’ll be panning your camera along the directional path of your subject.

Most beginning photographers are trained to “secure” their cameras. That is, your camera should remain as still as possible for certain types of shots. By contrast, panning requires that you move your camera with your subject. Specifically, you’ll be matching your subject’s rate of movement and the direction in which it is traveling.

In our train example, assume the man on the bike is moving from east to west. In that case, you’ll need to pan your camera along the same direction, matching the speed of the bike. The best results occur when you have a clear view of the moving object and ample room to swivel your camera along a parallel axis to it.

Panning effectively can be difficult. You can practice and perfect your technique by photographing athletes who move quickly (for example, basketball players). Try to capture their facial expressions while blurring everything in the background. It will take some time to get it right, but once you do, the technique can be a valuable addition to your repertoire.

Other Techniques To Capture Motion

Besides the two main techniques described above, you can also freeze the entire field of vision or blur everything. Freezing the entire scene can give your photographs a unique look, especially if the objects strongly imply movement. For example, consider a bird that is flying in front of a waterfall. Both imply motion to the viewer. Freezing the entire scene captures that motion in a single moment and can produce a breathtaking image. You should use a shutter speed of at least 1/1000th of a second for this type of shot.

Blurring everything produces the best results when the scene offers bright, contrasting colors or varying shades on the grayscale. In most cases, capturing motion in this manner is done purely for artistic purposes.

Another effective method for capturing motion within your images is ‘chrono photography’.

Using the continuous shooting feature on your camera, you can capture a series of shots and join them together in the post processing stage to create the effect shown above. A tripod is essential when attempting to shoot motion using this method.

Determine The Proper Shutter Speed

A lot of novice photographers ask what the proper shutter speed is, given their objective for their photographs. Every situation is unique. One speed doesn’t suit all circumstances. To identify the right shutter speed, you’ll need to ask yourself a few questions:

How fast is your subject moving?

How much distance exists between the camera and the subject?

How much motion do you want your photograph to convey to the viewer?

The faster the shutter speed, the more frozen and crisply-defined your subject will be. Most cameras today will allow you to freeze a scene using 1/8000th of a second or faster. That being said, the numbers only serve as a rough guideline. You’ll need to experiment with different shutter speeds in a variety of situations.

Potential Issue: Excess Light

When you slow your shutter speed to blur elements in your image, there’s a chance that too much light will enter and impact your photograph. It’s a common problem, but there are a couple of ways to resolve it. First, check the aperture on your camera. The larger it is, the more likely excess light will enter. Try adjusting the settings to reduce its size. Second, review the setting of your ISO. When it is set high, the image sensor in your camera may be overly-sensitive to light. This can create unwanted noise in your image.

Mastering The Art Of Motion Capture

Like other photography skills, becoming proficient at capturing motion requires practice and experience. You’ll need to spend time learning how shutter speeds will impact the quality of your images. Even if you’re just setting your camera on its tripod, timing a perfect shot of a fast-moving object can be difficult. In the end, capturing motion in your photography is part technique and part art. Fortunately, with practice, you can master it.

Got a photography tip or tutorial that you’d like to share with the DPS community? Share it in the tutorials section of our forum and it could get published here on the blog to be read by hundreds of thousands of people.

The best option, leaving the person sharp is to take one shot purely of the traffic blurred, then another with the person standing infront, using the quicker shutter speed. Then combine the two on an editing programme like photoshop or gimp.

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Neha

Hi, I tried to take pix of moving objects. Like i tried capturing a flying bird. But it seems so far and it fly so fast zt the bird seems lik a dot in z sky. Can u help me in that please. THANKS in ADV..

Maria R

For sure I would need to practice this technique like all others. The pics look really cool. Thanks for the ideas.

Some Older Comments

Rikki HatfieldSeptember 28, 2013 09:48 am

Great article! Thanks for sharing awesome tips and inspiring your readers to get out there and try it!

DikkiJuly 25, 2013 03:09 am

I am just learning how to use the different aspects of my Nikon Digital SLR and oh my it is so overwhelming. I want to know it all now and i know that is not even remotely possible. Trouble is i have learning issues and i know more and read something and it's forgotten 3 minutes later. So frustrating. Anyway, i just want to say how much i truly appreciate your generosity of your time and knowledge on here. Thank you for the opportunity to learn. I would love to take a class but for one thing i couldn't afford to and for another i am just afraid with my learning issues i would never be able to keep up. Anyway, thank you so very much! Have a great day!

alfredMay 12, 2013 07:33 pm

Your tips are top notch. It really helps me to learn new skill in photography.

NguyenFebruary 14, 2013 08:39 pm

I love all your posts. I tried many similar websites but yours is the best. The way you explain makes it so easy to get the idea. Thanks so much!

Capturing in motion needed to have some skills on how to capture it correctly with sense of creativity.

JackAugust 5, 2011 03:15 pm

Fantastic blog. I just wanted to say thanks for your work!

Brandon LopezMay 7, 2011 03:34 am

I really like this topic, at my site http://clickitphoto.net/2011/04/21/rulebook-time-shutter-speed/ I have some info on motion blur and shutter speed as well

AlexApril 25, 2011 07:00 pm

Can anyone tell me how the muti frame picture of the lady on the beach is created ?
If I use the sports feature on my camera it will give several pictures of the subject, but how is this done that they are all on the one image ?.
A similar question came up in my mind whilst watching Sky Arts 1 on a series about the New York photographer Bob Gruen. He has a famous picture of Tina Turner that has her moving on stage with 5 different images of her as she moves, but all on the one image. My question is that if it was a long shutter speed surely it would show a blurred image of her rather than 5 images on the one photo ?
Hope someone can help.
Thanks.

Alex

JohnApril 22, 2011 03:26 am

Good article and stunning photos. Thanks Darren.

shelleyApril 21, 2011 11:04 am

GREAT writing, so very informational! Could you put the settings you used with the photos to provide a baseline? Thanks.

PaulApril 20, 2011 01:38 am

Good article, thanks. I loved the photo of the lady stood in front of the train.

Tapas MallickApril 18, 2011 11:01 pm

Could you please discuss on Chrono Photography and how to process them in Photoshop in coming article ?

I do panning because I don't have the lens to properly photo roller derby with crystal clarity. I really really want a 24-70 f/2.8. It's easy to get the hang of but kind of annoying to have to do almost all your shots like that.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/katesi/5417542407/in/photostream

GaryApril 15, 2011 11:49 pm

Don't forget image stabilization. It's going to fight your motion....

thijsApril 15, 2011 10:36 pm

what focus setting (on a Canon DSLR) should you use for panning. I obviously have the wrong one, as the focus is set while the subject is still far away, and as it comes closer and I swivel with it, the subject obviously moves out of focus.

thanks for your help!

Kenn HaaseApril 15, 2011 05:18 pm

All this information is wonderful, but how about some help and guidelines to use with a digital point and shoot camera. Is there any way we can capture some of this stuff?

Naveen DeshpandeApril 15, 2011 02:29 pm

Nice descriptions with some terminologies. Good to know these techniques.

anaellisseApril 15, 2011 12:30 pm

wow this is so awesome came right on time just learned this at school and i have to take some photos with fast and slow shutter speed

Erik KerstenbeckApril 15, 2011 12:07 pm

Hi

This is a classic example - easy to shoot as well! Find a Carnival, Stabilize, 3 -5 seconds and you have got it!

Spin Me Round, Santa Monica, CA: http://t.co/r8Wtwr6

Regards, Erik

AAHernalApril 15, 2011 11:17 am

this is a great article...thanks for sharing!

NicoleApril 15, 2011 09:38 am

Can you please let me know what technique you used for the close up of the skateboard (the first picture)?

seyApril 15, 2011 07:38 am

Panning is also fun if you're the one moving, eg out of a train or car. Find a point of interest to keep in focus and have everything else blurred according to their distance to the focal point. It looks.. different. ^^

cderalwApril 15, 2011 06:07 am

Setting the flash sync to fire at the end of the exposure is called "Rear Curtain Sync" and you should be able to set it from the custom functions menu. Set Shutter Curtain Sync to second curtain snyc. On the XTi it should be custom function #9. You'll find it amongst the menu settings.

Martin Soler HDR PhotographyApril 15, 2011 05:49 am

Thanks for the great article. am definitely bookmarking it. My biggest problem is with panning and getting the sync of the speeds just right. I guess that just comes with practice.
I did a pretty nice (if I may say so myself) HDR photo with the car lights motion, but I guess that is the easiest type of motion photo.HDR photo Paris - Light streaks

JesseAdamsApril 15, 2011 05:35 am

Great article with some great examples. I especially like the shot of the woman standing in front of the moving train.
Here is an example of one of my favourite panning shots I took while in Paris.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26431673@N04/3742626071/in/set-72157621631439963

DenverApril 15, 2011 04:17 am

I highly encourage anyone who is interested in capturing motion to attend motorsports events as it gives you lots of opportunity to practice almost every type of motion photo. For the IndyGP race last summer, I struggled a bit during the first day of practice but by the second day and race day, I was dialed in pretty good:

http://bit.ly/i3tjNZ

I worked specifically on selective focus (honing in on the riders' helmets) while panning as the motos were leaning into curves and getting on the gas on Indy's short/back straightaway.

Motion - especially combined with lights in the dark - is one of the topics that amazes me the most in photography! Here are two examples:

Hotel Victor on the Ocean Drive in Miami Beach:
http://photographr.net/wordpress/?p=317
I actually wanted to capture the nice architecture and lighting of the building, but due to the traffic cars were always passing by. Well, doesn't look bad, does it? ;-)

The next one is from my hometown Bielefeld in Germany:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/photographrdotnet/5178851097/in/set-72157625393366428
I took this photo from a bridge above a local highway. What I like about it: it was just the perfect timing. The sky with clouds was still visible, but the cars already made long and beautiful light trails.

SarahApril 15, 2011 01:09 am

Great article but would be so much easier to follow if your examples were consistent with the images you are showing vs. going back to the 'train' example. In a few places I think you actually got mixed up even. You talk about the train and the bike in the same place.

scottApril 15, 2011 12:24 am

Repost of a great article, motion is so often overlooked yet so effective.

A set of motion photos from Europe: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lendog64/sets/72157626496640100/

Erik KerstenbeckApril 15, 2011 12:19 am

Hi

Great article - similar to one I wrote for CurrentPhotographer Motion Blur Photography http://cpurl.net/f0VRvB

Here is one of a static train, clouds give the motion Locomotive Breath: http://t.co/jXahj46

Debra GrothDecember 14, 2010 05:55 am

great site. I will share with my students as a good resource

Doc CanarySeptember 20, 2010 02:54 am

Very helpful. I play a lot with conveying motion.

Ashvin PatelAugust 13, 2010 09:43 pm

Very interesting article.I think that I am too late to visit here. Though I shoot blur photos but I learned here something more.I can not explain much.
Thank you
Ashvin

chris dysonJune 22, 2010 09:51 pm

After reading about long exposure shooting on your site, i went out and experimented with some interesting results last Friday night. i have posted the results on TREKEARTH under CPD66 the baltic four mill, if anyone is interested in looking at it.
thanks very much for the pointers as this has now opened up a new area of photography for me, i love the information available that is to people, and the generosity of those how supply it.

kind regards
chris

RekhaApril 17, 2010 06:29 am

Love this post...!!

Will be awesome for weekend Assignments..!!

:)

Joe NdzuloApril 10, 2010 08:17 pm

Great tips there. However, I wonder if it's possible to have such results (capturing motion) when using a Sony DCS-W30 digital camera.

Jared PolinApril 10, 2010 07:53 am

Great tips in this article!! i sometimes find myself getting stuck in just freezing the action and not thinking outside the box. I primarily capture people doing everything from weddings to touring with bands. From time to time i play around with dragging the shutter and definitely need to work at it more to keep my images from being stale.

Great work everyone!!!

Jared Polin

Liver TreatmentApril 7, 2010 10:42 pm

I looked up some tips but failed to use a tripod as most posts didn’t specify one.

ALT Designs BlogMarch 5, 2010 02:06 pm

I'm going to make this my personal assignment for the week. I have tried the second technique many times hoping to get the moving subject in focus and the rest blurred, never been very successful but practice and practice some more and hope to accomplish... thx for the tips.

alistairDecember 17, 2009 08:28 pm

dude. these photo's are sick.

to jessica. i have the same problem with rear (or second) curtain sync.
my flash flashes at both beggining and end. i dont have a rebel, i have 30d. reasonable similar.

thanx for the tips broseph

GinaOctober 24, 2009 03:26 am

Thank you so much. I had missed my Photo101 class and our assignment was capturing motion, this helped me clear up so much confusion. Thanks!

JasonSeptember 14, 2009 01:46 am

This is great tutorial on motion photography. It helped quite a bit with a project I'm working on. Thanks very much.

Daniela DavisAugust 26, 2009 08:58 am

What a fantastic lesson on motion photography. Mastering my camera has been a challenge, and I'm still not quite there yet, but things are just starting to "click" for me. I absolutely love this website and find the lessons invaluable.

daleAugust 6, 2009 05:32 am

2. Blurred Background With Subject In Focus
-i used to take a pic of myself with my camera phone while spinning on a swivel chair- try it guys just to see hw it works

jackieburkhardMay 24, 2009 03:09 am

Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.

Nick KarvounisMay 6, 2009 09:05 am

I would really like to try the Blurred Background With Subject In Focus. It sounds pretty hard but the result must be all worth it!

WILL07January 23, 2009 02:12 pm

A very helpful tips for a beginner like me. I'm using a d50 nikon dslr with 18-70mm kit lens. I would like to purchase another lens with low light capability, which is not that expensive. I like shooting nature, landscape, portraite, sport and school indoor activities for my kids. Could you give me an advise for which lens is good to purchase. thanks.

Jules @ Lovely Las VegasJanuary 23, 2009 05:10 am

Sweet! Love it. Gotta try it. Again, sometimes (rarely) this effect happened for me and I thought it was tres cool... but I had no clue how to replicate it.

FPMJanuary 20, 2009 06:07 pm

I used to be a homeless rodeo clown but now I am a world class magician !

kennyJanuary 20, 2009 04:25 pm

nice blog... just learned how to shot well.. really learn a lots.

thanks,

kenny

steve smithJanuary 8, 2009 10:44 pm

I just love your weblog! Very nice post! Actually you can do many thing to imporve it.

john blacJanuary 6, 2009 06:47 pm

Generally Ido not post on blogs, but I would like to say that this post really forced me to do so! really nice post.

EmilyDecember 16, 2008 04:39 am

Thankyou! Wonderful article for the beginner... me! I took notes so that I can have them with me when I'm out shooting ;)

MatthewDecember 12, 2008 07:56 am

Great article - enjoyed the variations.

One of my personal favs. Stood over my brothers shoulder with a longer shutter.

Great timing, we have a comp at the local club with 'dreaming' as the theme, how good is this information
thanks

QophNovember 19, 2008 06:20 am

I can't believe you failed to mention neutral density filters for reducing the amount of light coming in, under the heading "Potential Issue: Excess Light". ND and GND filters can be quite useful. Not to knock the article; it's a great posting.

I'd also like to add zooming, which I don't think I saw mentioned. Another very unique blur effect to enhance feelings of movement. At a relatively slow shutter speed, zoom in or out while the shutter is open. That's the basic premise. Results are something like this - http://blogs.reuters.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/Zoom%20-%20Low%20Res.jpg Although that photo hasn't much to do with lightning movement per se, the same effect can be used with something that does move fast to build upon that notion. On the search for examples, I ran across this. I hope the moderators don't mind if I include a link to another article. It explains the technique in detail and gives it a name. http://www.ephotozine.com/article/Creative-zoom-bursts

sfjNovember 18, 2008 09:49 pm

All of this information is great for those folks who don't have vision impairment. Although my Nikon has a diopter, it just isn't enough for me to use my camera in the manual mode.
Because of this, I manipulate most of my photos in PhotoShop.
It's 'cheating' in a way but it's all I can do for now. The flip side is, I have taught myself a great deal about PhotoShop and am learning more all the time.
I envy all of you who use just your camera to achieve such marvelous images without the aide of imaging software. YOU are the professionals! Thanks for sharing your wonderful photos.

AdityaNovember 15, 2008 11:39 am

Jessica,
Are you sure that the first flash going off is actually the 'flash' and not the flash probe for autofocus? You can confirm this by switching to manual focus and then trying out the 2nd curtain flash.

Al SherbinNovember 15, 2008 02:12 am

Blurred Background With Subject In Focus,
I was just reading about this a couple of weeks ago and one of the tips that was mentioned is to turn from the hips/waist. I tend to turn my shoulders. It was also mentioned that, "You'll be lucky to get one useable shot out of ten-twenty." so take many pictures until you get one that works.

juan herbertNovember 15, 2008 01:17 am

great.....it's good to informed by u...can't wait to practice it...thx a lot.:)

Desmond DearyNovember 14, 2008 09:22 pm

Hey all this i a great post I love slow shutter speeds. I was at an air show not so long ago and I learned a very simple thing that can help with panning. Keep both eyes open one on your subject and one through your view finder. I could never pan properly because when the shutter opened I couldn't see my subject anymore until it closed again, by which time my subject was either a blur or completely out of the frame. Maybe I was just being dumb, but I'm sure this may help someone

paoNovember 13, 2008 02:01 pm

thank you for the great tips. i can't wait to try these out on my future photos.

JessicaNovember 13, 2008 05:22 am

I was just playing around with the 2nd curtain, and I noticed that the (internal) flash goes off at the beginning AND the end. Is there a way to set it to it only goes off at the end?

creative279November 13, 2008 05:17 am

Good article with very informative tips. Thanks good work

JessicaNovember 13, 2008 05:14 am

Thanks for the tips. I found the custom function. I guess I need to use my trip as well, to get a better effect and prevent blurring

MartintoyNovember 13, 2008 03:36 am

Wow nice post, It really help with my next pix,

Gracias!

Martin

JaredNovember 12, 2008 01:04 pm

@ Mandy:
It's pretty easy!
All you need is to have either PhotoShop, FireWorks, or GIMP.
What you do is open all images (in the case of the skateboarer above it's 3) as separate layers in one document. Then, pick the image with the clearest overall composure (you can eyeball this) and designate it as the "base" image. Then take the the other images (layers) and using the polygonal lasso tool select the item of interest (ie the skateboarder). Then use the "invert selection" tool and feather the selected area for about 4-7 pixels. Then press delete (not backspace). Do this for all of your points of interest and you should be all set!!! (Send me an email at jcurtis@andover.edu and tell me how it goes!)

allanNovember 12, 2008 12:15 pm

also... you can just cut and paste one pic on top of the other..just make sure that you align everything.

Great post! I love how simple the information is laid out. Last weekend I tried taking some shots of a band in a very low lit atmosphere and they moved around a lot and I found myself very frustrated as all the pictures came out blurry. I looked up some tips but failed to use a tripod as most posts didn't specify one.

MandyNovember 12, 2008 07:50 am

I like the effect you get with 'chrono photography' but I'd like to know more about the post processing side of that technique... any offers!

Peter CareyNovember 12, 2008 03:40 am

Jessica,
On the XTi you can set it to shoot with the rear curtain. Click Menu then find Custom Functions. It'll be Custom Function #9. You'll want to set it to second curtain.
That should do it!

AdityaNovember 12, 2008 03:03 am

@Jessica First off, I think you need to be in Av, Tv, or M modes to have manual control of the flash. Once you're in one of these three, go to Menu -> Flash settings, and select something that says 'rear curtain' or 'second curtain' sync.

willNovember 12, 2008 02:17 am

Great article... very comprehensive. Panning is a technique that I like a lot but it does take practice! Here's one of my favorite panning shots:
http://www.willbl.com/2006/08/chicken-run/

There are also some great motion photos here:
http://www.earthshots.org/photos/motion/

Scott FillmerNovember 12, 2008 01:55 am

great how-to on shooting motion, a technique that is not the easiest to do... well... but makes for some great dramatic images, thanks for the how-to.

JessicaNovember 12, 2008 01:24 am

I want to learn how to make the flash go off at the end of a long exposure, to capture motion while holding the camera still, in a dark environment.
Do you need an external flash for this? (I have a Rebel XTi) I just ordered an external flash, but don't know how to set it to go off at the end vs the beginning.